The Damned’s Captain Sensible on an epic Kowloon trip, keeping the faith and the punks of today – Julian Assange and Nigel Farage

Punk is an attitude, says movement’s eternal teenager, now nearing 63, ahead of The Damned’s 40th anniversary tour date in Hong Kong

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The Damned in the 1970s, (from left) Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian and Brian James.

Published: 8:02am, 14 Feb 2017Updated: 5:30pm, 15 Feb 2017

The last time The Damned played here, they were put in a plush Hong Kong-side hotel. But true to their punk credentials, they couldn’t wait to get to the grittier side of the harbour. And once there, the very un-punk nerdy side of band leader and guitarist Captain Sensible emerged.

“Kowloon was a revelation – as a gadget buff it was epic,” enthused the Captain, known to his family as Raymond Burns. “And then we had a street-food blowout of gargantuan proportions nearby – I just remember the bottles of Chinese beer that kept coming, there was food everywhere, and all on this table slap bang in the middle of a bustling market.”

It’s as giddy a recantation as any teenager after his first trip abroad. And in many ways, Captain Sensible, though approaching 63, remains punk’s eternal teenager.

While his surviving contemporaries of the mid-’70s punk explosion have either turned to TV panel shows, gone on tour with dad-rock bands or promoted dairy products in British commercials, the Captain has refused to age gracefully.